Mexican-U.S. produce trade rises during Trump presidency
U.S. imports of Mexican fresh produce have continued on their upward trend this year despite President Donald Trump's inauguration speech calls to "Buy American", while export figures to the southern neighbor have also been positive. 
According to import statistics from the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) between January and October, the U.S. imported US$620 million more Mexican produce year-on-year with significant rises seen in dollar terms for avocados (+35%), mangoes (+11%), bananas (+30%) and table grapes (+28%).
These spikes contributed to a 21% jump in U.S. imports of Mexican fruit to US$5.17 billion and a 6% increase in volume to 3.34 million metric tons (MT).
In vegetables, value dropped for leading commodities such as tomatoes (-13%), cucumbers (-10%), bell peppers (-20%) and chile peppers (-8%), pushing down imports by 6%. However, volume was still up 3% for the category which reached 4.43 million MT.
Volume increases were seen in imports of peppers (+6%), onions (+4%), broccoli (+5%), lettuce (+34%) and asparagus (+14%).
U.S. fruit and vegetable exports to Mexico rose at rates of 12% and 27% respectively, reaching US$465.6 million and US$104.4 million. However, these figures are both below levels seen in 2014.
In volume terms, fruit and vegetable exports south of the border were at 21% and 19% respectively, reaching 26,290MT and 173,968MT.
Photos: www.shutterstock.com
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